Houston flood

[sus453]

To DU members in Houston and Southeast Texas, I hope you all are safe and dry.

[Gothmog]

1. Most businesses are closed today

The nearest post office to me was open and so I just mailed tax extension

[KatyMan]

2. Thanks!

Luckily the worst of it was overnight, so there weren't a lot of people out or leaving for work/school which kept accidents/casualties/etc down. I think we all knew about midnight last night that the city would be basically closed today.

On the lighter side, one downside of working from home (or having the ability to work from home) is on days when it floods or snows (if you live in a snow area), all of your neighbors have a free off day and are watching Netflix and you have no excuse not to work (first world problems, I know) .

Thanks again for the concern sus453!

[KamaAina]

3. Well, it's floodin' down in Texas...

All of the telephone lines are down...

Well, it's floodin' down in Texas... all of the telephone lines are down...

[intheflow]

4. Sending good thoughts and prayers down there today.

Stay safe, y'all.

[OnlinePoker]

5. Meanwhile, moronic news crew lets people drive into flooded street

Instead of doing something useful like stopping traffic until the cops or fire show up, they just film away. Where is the basic humanity that doesn't kick in here? At 28 seconds, the reporter asks "What do I do?" How about preventing it from happening in the first place.

[NutmegYankee]

8. Other than standing in front of the cars path, they didn't have many tools.

You'd think a river at an underpass with a news crew next to it would be a strong hint to "Turn Around, Don't Drown". Sometimes people are just determined to be "U-boat commanders" as the towing industry calls 'em.

[OnlinePoker]

10. I'm sure they had a news vehicle of some sort

Easy enough to swing it across the path of the road to keep people from going down there and standing in front waving their arms.

[kentauros]

11. The driver had an accent I didn't recognize.

Likely another transplant totally unfamiliar with the flooding we get here. As he said when he got out, he didn't think it was that deep. Too many people don't pay attention to roadways: how they're built, the lay of the land, and so forth. It's quite obvious the road is dipping at a good angle. Plus, you always have clearance-height signs for anything that's going over the road. If a sign says "Clearance 16'-9" and it's pretty clear the distance from the bottom of the bridge to the top of the water is less than ten feet, then it's too deep to attempt.

And as the others have said, they're a news crew. They're not set up to block traffic, even legally (like a police car would by parking across the lanes.)

[sus453]

12. I remember some years ago driving through the Austin area

(or maybe it was San Antonio), and they had those yardstick-like sign posts that would show how exactly how hight the water was. Houston has really been getting its share of flooding over the past 15-20 years - maybe that would be a good investment for the city or for Harris County.

[kentauros]

13. What I have noticed is that those markers are on older bridge supports.

Things like railroad trestles that are fifty years old (or more.) But the modern underpasses don't have them. Some could be a decision by Texas Dept. of Transportation, and some by the City of Houston. If it's TxDOT's authority, then the city can't install them, and vice versa.

I do get the impression that Mayor Sylvester Turner will implement things like that, though.

[PDittie]

6. All good here

I have one dog who doesn't like to get her paws wet. She's the only one with something to complain about.

You only have to get your car flooded out once to take all precautions not to let it happen again. Ours was in 1994.

[roguevalley]

7. flooding is so scary. I'm sorry if you get slammed. Take care down there. :(

[Gothmog]

9. Two deaths so far

Both in the northern part of Houston-Greenspoint and Hardy Toll road